things that are not clear to me, if there are no rendering computation hardware on client side, essentially everything is computed in the server, frames are compressed and sent to the client....in this model, RTS , MMORPG's are definitely possible since there's not much going on anyway, are fps'es even possible ?

this is like a streaming movie except u r in the movie too !!

and what about bandwidth variability, temporary QoS violations that are part and parcel of any home internet connection.

basically my question is anything real kick ass possible in this model or just some lame games for 7 year olds ?

thats what I thought about it, but would millions of dollars be invested for stuff thts fundamentally flawed and doesnot take an Einstein to figure out ? either its gotta be smthing cool or waste of money since there are far better things that are not getting funding in these days of recession.

As I understand it 1 ms is what it takes them to proccess your inputs and send the next frame back, but connection latency will still be a problem.

Even with that I'm sure this could work pretty well in places like Korea and it's a great tool for things like demos, renting or even press copies (publishers are really reluctant to give them these days).

Don't see it working all too well for FPS but perhaps it may have a bright future for other genres, such as strategy, RPG, simulations, puzzle, MMORPGs and so on that doesn't really depend on you pressing the button at the exact millisecond.

Update: During the Q&A, the very real concern of network latency was raised (35:20 into the video). Perlman said that OnLive will work with a data center that is about 1,000 miles away from DSL or cable connections (probably 1,500 miles away with fiber). OnLive data centers already exist on the left and right coasts in the US with a 3rd coming on-line in the mid-west. When streamed to gamers in Australia "just for fun," OnLive found that "you can kind of play the game, but you see the lag."

It's going to be laggy. The 1 ms latency is probably just decompression time.

Of course it can run Crysis, computing power isn't the issue, Crysis with 50ms+ of input lag just wont be that fun, it's more about being able to say 'look Crysis runs on my mobile phone, isn't that AMAZING?' It'll be rubbish for FPS and quite possibly very good for slower paced games.

What I'd be more impressed by is some level of resource sharing so responsive input tasks can be dealt with locally to some extent (obviously not things like altering FPS view angle, but hearing and seeing that a button input has registered can help reduce the feel of lag) while the computationally intensive stuff is done remotely.

I have a Wii for a some arcade craic, drunken parties, etc. but I use my PC to really enjoy my games.

Part of the fun of playing Left 4 Dead on my PC is the fact that I can tweak it here and there, utilise my x-fi sound card, get more out of the visuals, get my sensitivity right and my keys properly bound for the best control, then I might set my rates according to my shitty Irish broadband and then I have something running so much better than I had before and I didnt have to buy any new parts for my Rig. OnLive cant do this... infact OnLive wont allow me to replace the Zombie horde moanings\screamings with Macho Man Randy Savage sound bytes.

People say its 10 - 20 years down the line, well for consoles maybe, for PC games to go out there without modding... nah, I dont think they have anything to tackle that issue... and God help them if I have to call them up at 3am to get my Quake Live Ultra Turbo autoexec file working properly *again*